Conventional reactors can be used to form a variety of products, such as polycrystalline silicon. To facilitate production of such products, the reactors often include one or more components with surfaces, such as baffles, which interact with process gases used to form the products. Unfortunately, these surfaces are degraded by the process gases (and/or process byproducts) over time, especially when the surfaces include carbon. As such, these surfaces are typically coated with a protective layer prior to placement within the reactor. For example, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) may be used to form a layer of silicon carbide (SiC) on the surface of the component, which may also be referred to as a CVD-SiC layer. Such CVD processes are utilized separate from the reactor itself, e.g. offsite.
Unfortunately, components including CVD-SiC layers are expensive. In addition, the components can be awkward and/or heavy, making shipping, handling, and installing them into reactors dangerous and time consuming, which further raises the costs associated with them. Further, the CVD-SiC layer may be imperfect or damaged during manufacture, handling, or use of the component. As such, the underlying surface, albeit thought to be fully protected, can still be attacked by the process gases, such as through a mere pinhole in the CVD-SiC layer. Over time, the component becomes unusable or eventually fails due to degradation. The component must then be removed from the reactor and either repaired offsite, or more typically, scrapped altogether. In view of the foregoing, there remains an opportunity to provide a method of forming a heterogeneous protective layer on a surface of a component in a reactor.